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Underground > Radio & Music >

Nelly Furtado 2.0

Regrettable Juvenilia

14:54 / 05.06.06

"I wanna see you all on your knees, knees
You either wanna be with me or be me..."

The reinvention of Nelly Furtado as 2006's hottest R&B-flavoured pop star in every sense has been as much of a triumph as it has been a surprise. Probably not the most surprising reinvention of the year in my book (that prize goes to the previously hopeless Muse for making a decent sleazy-glam-rock-electro song), but certainly not something I would have predicted.

But it's undeniable, and comes in the form of two singles (one for the US, one for the rest of the world, initially, although I never understand these release schedule things anymore): 'Maneater' and 'Promiscuous Girl'. Followed by an album entitled Loose. Yeah, I know. The puritans are going to have a field day. Well, let 'em.

Both songs are produced by Timbaland, who must be laughing at how well he's outlasted the rivals once tipped to replace him. 'Promiscuous Girl' is reminiscent of the best work the Neptunes and Timbaland himself did for Justin Timberlake, and features great flirty back-and-forth banter between Timbo and Nelly - "I want you on my team" - "So does everybody else".

But it's 'Maneater' that's the real jaw-dropper: I am mildly-to-very obsessed by this song. I played it out on Saturday night and even though the sound was fucking up at that point, it was still amazing. It's just the perfect song for dancing to, and yet somehow it also eludes description other than that - it doesn't sound much like other current r&b or pop to my ears, and yet it FITS, if that makes sense. It also fits really well with yr aforementioned sleazy electro rock etc., for my money.

I would post YSIs but hopefully you can just turn on the radio and here at least one of these...

16:10 / 05.06.06

I was really dreading the reinvention of Furtado. I liked her (to me) unique sound from before, and was hoping she wouldn't turn into another bland popstar. But when I heard Promiscuous Girl, I fell in love all over again. I love the sort of operatic quality of the dialogue. From the spoken word stuff at the very very beginning, to the banter on in the intro. It also helps that the chorus is extremely catchy, an ear-worm like no other.

However. Should we attribute the reinvention and great sound to Furtado or to Timbaland? I'm not sure who wrote the songs, but I think Timbaland should get most of the credit here. Promiscuous Girl is soaked in Timbaland's beats and swirling synthesizers.

Have you see the video, Flyboy, for Promiscuous Girl? Timberlake and Shawn Desman have cameos. Desman's cameo is very effective because he doesn't dance. He merely provides a body for Furtado to writhe against.

16:49 / 05.06.06

Yeah, Maneater is a wicked tune. I liked the previous versions of Nelly, but this one's great. What were you mixing it in and out of Flyboy?

One of the reasons I like Nelly is that she's been known to release proper JA seven versions of her tunes with minimal reggae backing - the JA version of Turn Out the Light is really good.

17:08 / 05.06.06

I'm still a fan from the first go round - she throws fruit into the audience at gigs, how cool?

Regrettable Juvenilia

20:46 / 05.06.06

2stepfan - I wasn't exactly mixing, but I played it in between the new Cristina Aguilera, 'Ain't No Other Man', and the Double J and Haze Extended Mix of Fannypack's 'Nu Nu (Yeah Yeah)'.

06:46 / 06.06.06

Yeah, in my head it goes real well with the Xtina single - partly because they are both from cred-rich producers matched with bratty pop divas (I'm not sure if this actually describes Furtado, who I only know for singing that annoying Idol-staple Bird song). I can't remember the last time Timbo did anything remotely this good (wait, did he do Lose Control or was that Jazze Pha?)

Maneater is fucking awesome, though; massively 80s without (m)any of the obvious "80s" signifiers (certainly none of the dire ones he flogged to death with Missy) (and much, much better than Rihanna's Soft Cell Nike promo), and like Fly said, crazy danceable. But I think what I like most about it are the drums, which are basically, contra everything you expect from Tim, really simple - they sound like something you'd get from a nerdily fun fresh-out-of-high-school riot grrl band. With the big synth lines and weird background esoterica, it sounds kind of like what I imagined when I was really excited about Le Tigre producing tracks for Paris Hilton's album.

Regrettable Juvenilia

07:23 / 06.06.06

I can't remember the last time Timbo did anything remotely this good (wait, did he do Lose Control or was that Jazze Pha?)

He didn't do 'Lose Control' but he did do 'Joy' on the most recent album. Which was good, but nowhere near this... big.

08:08 / 06.06.06

So then he hasn't had a big hit since The Potion?

09:14 / 06.06.06

Really enjoy the grimy synth riff,
but the switch to the chorus feels a bit disjointed, like her voice is still too sweet somehow.
It made me think of that 'she's a maniac' song from flashdance,
video of wee nelly in her durty vest reinforced the sexy welder similarity.

Regrettable Juvenilia

12:06 / 07.06.06

the drums... sound like something you'd get from a nerdily fun fresh-out-of-high-school riot grrl band.

This is SPOT. ON.

(I didn't even register 'The Potion', by the way.)

20:53 / 07.06.06

It was a Luda single I really liked, on one of the beats Jay rejects in Fade to Black.

06:14 / 10.06.06

The album's leaked, you can get it at this great new blog. Will post something once I've had a listen.

D Terminator XXXIII

12:53 / 11.06.06

Hands up: who here thinks that the third Timbaland collaboration is much better than the first two? Don't get me wrong, I love them both but I find it hard to go by an hour without playing No Hay Igual. The moment Furtado's voice segues into a tape breakdown is one of the finest touches Timbalands ever produced.

Keith, like a scientist

14:22 / 11.06.06

"Afraid" is the song I can't stop playing this weekend. It's definitely my favorite of the Timba collaborations on the album.

But his production is incredibly strong on it, overall.

00:05 / 12.06.06

Besides the obviously great 'Maneater' and 'Promiscuous,' I'm really liking 'All Good Things.' A lot of these pop albums seem to end with a wistful, lament kind of song, see Goldfrapp's 'No. 1' or Rachel Stevens' 'I Will Be There,' and this song joins that tradition of greatness.

D Terminator XXXIII

08:17 / 12.06.06

How many and which tracks has Timbaland produced on the album?

Regrettable Juvenilia

10:17 / 12.06.06

Oh Thank GOD, 'Maneater' has knocked Simple Sandi Thom off the top of the UK pops - what a victory for Prrrroper music!

12:17 / 12.06.06

That detuned synth riff is just ruffness. The way it syncopates with the vocal line and those off-beat "oh!s" just slays me. Love to hear a Trentemoller re-rub. Actually, are there any remixes of this that are worth the candle?

D Terminator XXXIII

18:14 / 12.06.06

Reason I was asking was that the wikipedia entry on Timbaland only lists 2 songs, but according to the Furtado entry it's as follows:

"Afraid" featuring Attitude (Nelly Furtado, Tim Clayton, Nate Hills, Tim Mosley) – 3:35
"Maneater" (Furtado, Jim Beanz, Hills, Mosley) – 4:19
"Promiscuous" featuring Timbaland (Furtado, Clayton, Hills, Mosley) – 4:08
"Glow" (Furtado, Hills, Mosley, Nisan Stewart) – 4:02
"Showtime" (Furtado, Hills) – 4:15
"No Hay Igual" (Furtado, Hills, Mosley, Stewart) – 3:46
"Te Busqué" featuring Juanes (Furtado, Juanes Vásquez, Lester Mendez) – 3:39
"Say It Right" (Furtado, Hills, Mosley) – 3:42
"Do It" (Furtado, Stewart, Mosley) – 3:41
"In God's Hands" (Furtado, Rick Nowels) – 4:54
"Wait For You" (Furtado, Hills, Mosley) – 5:52
"All Good Things (Come To An End)" (Furtado, Hills, Chris Martin, Mosley) – 5:11
"Te Busqué (Spanish Version)" featuring Juanes – 3:37

18:41 / 12.06.06

I'm probably getting signals crossed, but are those "Oh!"s a Cee-Lo sampleo?

00:20 / 19.06.06

Nelly Furtado/Lil Wayne - Maneater remix

I'm not totally sold on this - the beat is almost a screwed and chopped version of the original, or (more realistically) Timbo taking it towards the operatic-tragic vibe of 'Cry me a river', which doesn't (for me) really add much and is pretty stupid (i.e., there is no way Nelly's lyrics will convey any pathos; they're straight pop). I would have much preferred to hear Wayne - who I love - drop his verse on the original beat.

If I can tangent, this brings up something that has been annoying me in recent rnb - remixes (and some originals) where a male rapper drops a verse in a song that is one way or another about female power, but refuses to acknowledge that's what the song's about and just plops awkwardly in. If they insist on getting guys on these songs they should get them to play out the male role implied in the song and quit boasting a minute! Examples: the remixes of Teairra Mari's 'Make her feel good' (the song's about how none of the guys she meets know how; all the guest verses are about how great they'd make her feel, which now that I think about it may actually match the theme in that they come across as the kind of arrogant, insensitive fucks she's complaining about). Busta's verse on 'Don cha' - doesn't that kind of make him the guy who's stuck with the less hot girlfriend? Too Short on the new Kelis single - he needs to play the whipped dude for this to work, not yell at her to be bossier! I don't know if this is really a recent trend or if I've just started noticing it, but there are tons more examples I'm forgetting and it really bugs me.

08:25 / 19.06.06

dunno if timbaland tries his hand at singing on the actual album, but i had the misfortune of hearing his attempt during a live version of "promiscuous girl" on "so you think you can dance" last week.

*shudder*

stick to the beats, man. stick to the beats...

Regrettable Juvenilia

08:51 / 19.06.06

[Off-topic, but Jackie, the real stand-out example of what you're talking about is surely Young Jeezy dropping in to almost ruin Cristina Milian's 'Say I' by doing his Fathers 4 Justice impression...]

13:23 / 19.06.06

100% correct.

22:35 / 19.06.06

No wait, drunkenly premature - Say I doesn't count because it was rubbish before Jeezy got on (i.e., if I want to hear Stay Fly I want to hear Stay Fly and this is a pale imitation).

21:35 / 20.06.06

I'm liking Nelly Furtado Redux aswell. I really quite loved the singles off her first album and it's nice to see a return to form. The Spanish language songs, in particular "No Hay Igual" as mentioned above are really listenable but isn't Nelly Furtado of Portuguese descent????

05:39 / 21.06.06

Indeed. I'm guessing her deal is tapping into recent latin (american) music trends while doing the usual little dance with multiculturalism, rather than some "ETHNIC PRIDE, AIGHT" deal. Though I might not the most knowledgeable to comment on that.

Regardless, No Hay Igual rules in all tongues.

08:39 / 21.06.06

Okay, I haven't heard the song because for some reason my album download didn't work, but yeah, it sounds like she's riffing on the reggaeton buzz, kinda like J-Lo does with the random spanish bits on Control Myself.

09:46 / 21.06.06

Yup, that's pretty much the deal, as is made clear in this Rolling Stone interview

""No Hay Igual" takes its cues from reggaeton. "I didn't know what reggaeton was until I went to Miami and Pharrell's like, 'You're crazy!'" she confesses. "He played me a reggaeton song, and then I was like, 'Holy shit, it's great!'" She was inspired to write "No Hay Igual," in Spanish, nearly on the spot."

09:47 / 21.06.06

(Which I'd have added right away if it weren't for the interview entirely slipping from my memory; sorry.)

Regrettable Juvenilia

21:38 / 21.06.06

On a first listen, the album sounds like a cross between Arular and Justified. Yeah. That good.